Apron or bib article



Oct. 7, 1969 N; c. BATTAGLIA ET AL APRON OR BIB ARTICLE Filed Sept. 26,1957 INVENT OR 3 STM f $5M TmLz mmw BB .CL Na i M 3 NEW ATTORNEYS-United States Patent 3,470,566 APRON 0R BIB ARTICLE Norman C. Battagliaand Blondell Battaglia, both of 4616 Washington, St., Milwaukie, Oreg.97222 Filed Sept. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 670,617 Int. Cl. A41d 13/04 U.S.Cl. 2-49 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bib comprising a planarmember, the planar member having an opening therein for receiving theneck of the wearer therethrough when the bib is worn, the planar memberhaving a slit extending from the opening to an upper edge thereof and aflexible cover member secured to the planar member to depend therefromwhen the planar member is worn about the neck of the wearer.

This invention relates to a wearing apparel and more particularly to anapron or bib article which is adapted to be easily and quickly appliedaround and removed from the neck of the wearer. The present inventionfurther contemplates an apron or bib article which is disposable.

In various applications, it has been found desirable to provide bibs oraprons which can be easily applied and removed by the wearer and whichare disposable. This particularly has been found desirable in certainapplications such as in applying facial treatments, performing dentaloperations, shaving or eating. Most of the prior art bibs and apronsintended for such applications are of the reusable type which most oftenare comparatively expensive items, and which require laundering forrepeated use. Furthermore, it has been found that the use of suchconventional articles in service requires considerable time andattention to recover after usage and launder.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to provide anovel bib or apron article.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel bib orapron article which is disposable.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a noveldisposable bib or apron article which may be easily applied to andremoved from the user.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a noveldisposable bib or apron device which is simple in construction andinexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent to those persons skilled in the art, from the followingdescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention appliedto the body of a wearer;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the embodiment illustrated inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 inFIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES1 through 3, having a portion thereof broken away.

Briefly described, the present invention relates to a bib generallycomprising a comparatively rigid planar member having an upper edge, theplanar member having an opening therein for receiving the neck of a usertherethrough when the bib is worn by the user, the planar member havingan access slot extending from the opening to the upper edge and aflexible cover member secured to the planar member to depend therefromwhen the planar member is worn about the neck of the user. In thepreferred embodiment of the invention, the trans- "ice verse dimensionof the access slot is made smaller than the transverse dimension of theopening, to provide a pair of inwardly projecting arm portionsengageable with the back of the neck of the user when the bib is beingworn, whereby the bib may be suspended from the neck of the user alongthe front side thereof, the planar member is sufliciently flexible topermit the arm portions to be flexed apart, whereby the neck of the usercan be passed through the access slot into the opening when the bib isbeing installed on the user and the cover member is adhesively securedto a planar surface of the planar member.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated an embodiment of theinvention. Specifically, FIGURE 1 illustrates a bib 10 being worn aboutthe neck of a user. As best illustrated in FIGURES 2 through 4, the bib10 consists of two basic components including a planar member 11 and acover member 12. The planar member 12 preferably is formed of acomparatively rigid sheet of cardboard and includes an upper edge 13, abottom edge 14 disposed substantially parallel to the upper edge 13,substantially parallel side edges 15 and 16 and beveled upper edges 17and 18. The planar member 12 also is provided with a front planarsurface 19 and a rear planar surface 20, and a circular opening 21 forreceiving the neck of the wearer therethrough when the bib article isWorn, is illustrated in FIGURE 1. The planar member further is providedwith an access slot extending between the opening 21 and the upper edge13 to provide a pair of inwardly projecting arm portions 22 and 23 whichmay be flexed apart to receive the neck of the wearer through the accessslot when the bib article is being installed on the wearer. The lowerinner edges of the arm portions 22 and 23 also engage the back of theneck of the user, to permit the bib article to be suspended from theneck of the user when it is worn.

The cover member 12 is substantially rectangular in shape, and consistsof a flexible paper material. The cover member is provided with a pairof parallel side edges 24 and 25 which are in alignment with the sideedges 15 and 16 of the planar member 11, a lower edge 26 which isdisposed substantially parallel to the upper and lower edges 13 and 14of the planar member and an upper portion having a configurationcorresponding to the configuration of the planar member. The upperportion of the rear surface 27 of the cover member is adhesively securedto the front surface 19 of the planar member 11, as best illustrated inFIGURE 3. The rear surface 27 0f the cover member preferably is providedwith a plastic coating so that the cover member can be heat bonded tothe planar member 11.

When the bib article as described is to be worn, the user need merelymove the arm portions 22 and 23 of the planar member apart and move theinner parts of the arm portions past his neck to receive his neckthrough the access slot into the opening 21. With the planar portion inposition, it will be seen from'FIGURE 1 that the cover member 12 willdepend therefrom covering the upper front portion of the users attire.The width of the bib article substantially corresponds with the width ofthe body of the user, so that the planar member 11 extends across theupper portion of the chest of the user, permitting the cover member 12to depend downwardly, thus covering the upper portion of the body of theuser. It will be noted that the rigidity of the planar member 11conveniently positions and maintains the cover member on the body of theuser.

The front surface of the cover member 12 preferably consists of anabsorbent material which will absorb any liquid or semiliquid matterfalilng in contact therewith. It further will be appreciated that thefront surface of the bib can be used as a napkin.

When the user is finished with the bib article, it easily can be removedsimply by grasping thet arm portions 22, 23, pulling them apart andremoving the big article from the neck of the user. The used bib thencan be easily discarded.

It is preferred that the planar member 11 and the cover member 12 beconstructed of inexpensive paper products. Furthermore, it iscontemplated that decorative figures and perhaps advertising matter canbe printed on the front surface of the cover member.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be evident that thereare a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of those skilled in the art.However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from thespirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof aslimited solely by the appended claim.

We claim:

1. A bib comprising a comparatively rigid planar member having a lengthand width sufficient to overlie a substantial portion of the top of theshoulders and the upper chest of the user, said planar member having anupper edge, an opening therein for receiving the neck of the usertherethrough when the bib is being worn and an access slot extendingfrom said opening 't o'said edge, the width of said access slot beingsmaller than the greatest width of said opening to provide a pair ofinwardly projecting arm portions which may be flexed apart to open andclose said access slot so that the neck of the user may be passedthrough said access slot when the bib is being .WOITIIIIOI" removed, anda flexible cover member having the same wid'tli'as said planar member tocover the remaining upperfront portion of the user when the .bib isworn, secured to and depending from said planar member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS p w I 5/1927 Schilke 2 s21,628,433 2,580,388 1/1952 Allen 2--49 2,742,644 4/ 1956 Kaufman 2-492,830,297 4/ 1958 Sabee 2-49 FOREIGN PATENTS 162,760 4/ 1949 Austria.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner

